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3 of 4 gorges joining at Oxer's
Lookout |
I know it's not been long since Ningaloo, but the adventures just keep on coming!
We headed inland to Karijini National Park, where we stayed for a few days. Although we were somewhat hindered by the weather, it is still one of the most spectacular parks we have seen so far. Sure, visitors to Australia think of Uluru, Kata-juta, Cape York, Kakadu etc to all be pretty special and significant. To me, these pale in beauty in comparison to Karijini.
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| Fortescue Falls - Top of Dales Gorge |
The landscape of the Pilbara region is arid and fairly barren. Due to the abnormal rainfall though, the spinafex is quite green at the moment. It's mainly made up of spinafex, small trees, gum lined rivers of waterholes, rocks and mountains. Enter Karijini, home of the Hamersley Ranges, and these mountains are sepparated by the most fantastic gorges. These gorges are red as can be, with crystal clear green water pools that are freezing most of the year.
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Caleb on 'Grade 4' Track in
Hancock Gorge |
The set walks are short but challenging - and if you don't do them you really miss out. The gorges get really narrow, at some points almost becoming caverns. Other places you need to scramble over slippery rocks, wade through cold water, rock climb and walk along ledges to navigate to the end.
There is a place at the centre of the park where four of these narrow gorges all meet together. We were planning to go abseiling here, but unfortunately this didn't turn out because of the weather - we had to content ourselves with only going 'so far' into the gorges. Understandable that they want you to stop at certain points - the park is 90km from Tom Price, and should you fall and break your ankle and need rescuing, it can take 10-13 hours before you recieve medical attention at a hospital.
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| Lisa on 'The Spider Walk' |
Luckily, we avoided injury, but not without a number of 'dumb' moments. For instance, when I, being the shutterbug I am, decided it was a good idea to lean out on a rock over a pool and take a photo of a golden orb spider, lens cap between my teeth, it did not end well. Not a great place for a lens cap - it ended up in the cold water, of which I had to enter up to my neck and fish out my lens cap with my feet.
'Gorging' (as I call it) is probably not the safest place for a bulky camera. But if you trust yourself enough (as I probably shouldn't as at one point there was a bit of a slip and a tense moment) to carry it, the rewards are spectacular (and probably more so when the sun is out). Greens, reds and crystal clear water. A great place for adventure really.
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Handrail Pool - Weano Gorge
You can see the handrail coming down the waterfall (on the right)
That's the path |
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